Fighting substance abuse isn’t easy; many people have opinions both towards substances and towards addicts, but few offer any real solutions. One thing that I really don’t think helps is solely looking at substances. While I do think that we have to understand substances of abuse, I have said and will always say that building a recovery identity is a far better approach that really doesn’t have anything to do with drugs, but does have everything to do with health. Really, from my perspective, we can all stand to build our own “recovery identity,” even if we don’t use any drugs or alcohol.
No one is perfect. Even if someone is high-functioning, he can still find ways to become healthier. To me, a recovery identity is a set of roles through which a person can strive to become the best version of himself. Obviously, abusing drugs and alcohol doesn’t allow anyone to be much more than a slave to the substance; however, I think self-reflection about a person’s best version of himself is the first step to becoming that version. I strongly believe that if a person learns to seek all that is strong and good and beautiful, then in time he will have no need to use substances.
Now, I’m not saying that we shouldn’t look at all means of treating substances. We should. If someone is addicted to opiates, for example, we should look at building treatment resources that may involve Suboxone or Methadone, if appropriate. But if we ONLY look at the opiate abuse, then we don’t really do much to eradicate the triggers within a person that result from his responses to his life’s circumstances. I think that we have to teach people, ALL PEOPLE, whether addicted or not, to see the good that’s all around us, even if for a brief moments.
